Chrome's Journey
by Devanor
Summary: My name is Chrome, and I am a zoroark with a strong desire to wander the Kalos region. But nothing is ever simple in life...
1. Prologue

"Human speech"

" _Telepathy/aura"_

 _Thinking_

" **Pokemon speech"**

 **Pokemon move**

* * *

 **Prologue**

(? POV)

" **Big brother, wake up already!"**

The yelling, along with the constant poking on my nose, make me open my eyes slowly. The little zorua seems excited for some reason. _Did he find a new pokemon in the forest to mess with?_

" **What is it, Shade? I'm trying to sleep here..."** I mutter angrily.

" **It's today, Chrome, it's today!"** He yells while jumping up and down frantically.

Having had enough of his antics, I grab him and hold him so we are face-to-face. **"Would you mind telling what is so special about today that you rudely disturb my sleep?"**

" **Today's the day we will leave to travel the region!"**

I merely stare at him in silence. _How did he find out that I intended to leave? And..._ **"What do you mean, 'we'? Last time I checked, I had the intention of journeying -alone-."**

" **Oh, that's simple big brother. I told mom and dad, and..."**

" **YOU DID WHAT?!"** My interruption went unnoticed.

" **...convinced them to let me go with you."**

Finally letting go of him, I stand up and stretch my arms. I -should- be angry at him, but seeing as he solved the issue of talking our parents into letting me leave, I won't have to sneak away and worry them to death. Now another issue is present, however, that wasn't here before: how am I supposed to protect Shade while travelling?

I sigh. **"They were not happy about this, were they?"**

" **Nope!"** He answers matter-of-factly while snickering.

Seeing as the purugly's out of the bag, I decided to say goodbye to our parents as soon as we find them, and leave. A bit heartless, but I've already made up my mind. We left the cave, found them, and said our parting words. They were against it, for obvious reasons, but had no intentions of stopping us as we left. At least I promised to keep Shade safe, and that we both would return one day. That, if anything, made them cheer up.

" **Now then."** I said before changing my appearance. Now I am a human male with short black hair, gray eyes, a blue track jacket, navy blue pants, and black combat boots. "Come on, we're leaving."

Shade jumped up on my right shoulder, and we left towards the closest human settlement: Lumiose City.

* * *

 **Fact about Chrome's Journey: it was once "Calem's Secret" but I scrapped it and made this instead. The original name was also Pokemon: The Journey of Zoroark.**


	2. Chapter 1: Pokemon or Trainer?

"Human speech"

" _Telepathy/aura"_

 _Thinking_

" **Pokemon speech"**

 **Pokemon move**

* * *

 **Chapter 1: Pokemon or Trainer?**

 **Decision, decisions...**

(Third person POV)

Lumiose City is a magnificent place. Humans always running about, plenty of boutiques, cafés, restaurants, anything you could ever need. For someone travelling the region, this is but one stop. Yet...

"What do you mean, I can't leave?!" An angry young man almost yelled at the police officer. The zorua perched on his shoulder merely watched the exchange.

"I mean exactly what I say kid, you can't leave the city the way you are now. It is for your safety." Officer Jenny explained.

The boy sighed. "Alright... so, how do I get permission to leave?"

"You have three options," Jenny began, "One: you acquire any one badge, to prove that your pokemon is strong enough to protect you on the route. Two: you are in the company of at least one trainer with any one badge. And three: you hop on the Armored Transport that travels thrice a day."

 _If only you knew how strong I am..._ he thought, but pushed it aside. The very point of his journey was to do it inconspicuously, since people would immediately fight and/or try to capture him if they saw him in his true form. "Fine then. I guess I'll challenge one of the gyms in that case. Where's the closest one?"

Jenny nodded in appreciation. "The closest one is actually in the center of Lumiose. However, they only accept challengers with at least four badges. Your best bet is to go to Santalune City."

* * *

Later (Chrome's POV)

* * *

As I was told by the officer, I boarded the Armored Transport and I'm currently headed towards Santalune City. Shade was excited again, which is like an Absol when it comes to foretelling disaster... at least for me.

"What are you so happy for, Shade?"

" **What else? I'm going to fight a Gym Leader!"**

"...And since when was that decided?"

" **Oh, come on big brother, how are you supposed to fight them otherwise? By yourself? Or are you going to cap-"**

"No."

" **Why not? You were given spare pokeballs for a reason, you know~"**

I thought back at it, to the meeting I had with Prof. Sycamore.

* * *

Flashback, ~about an hour ago.

* * *

" _Excuse me!" I yelled as I entered the building._

" _One moment!" Someone answered. Said moment later he appeared. "Welcome! I am Professor Augustine Sycamore. How may I be of service?"_

" _I know this might sound like a strange request, but I would like a spare pokeball, if you have one. Shade, my zorua, and I are travelling, and I would like to capture him in a pokeball so no one takes him away from me."_

" _I see, I see. Would you like me to register you as a trainer while I'm at it?"_

" _No, I have no intentions of being a trainer, and even then, I could most likely never afford it." The professor laughed at me._

" _Whenever did I say it would cost you? New trainers are registered for free. The only thing that actually costs is the pokedex and the regional starter. If you don't want a pokedex, and you are fine with any pokemon as your starter, or, as in your case, that you already have one, it doesn't cost you a dim!"_

" _I see... then, if it isn't too much trouble..." The professor laughed again._

" _Oh, it only takes a moment. I just need your name and take a photo, and we're done."_

" _The name's Chrome," I said, "and this is Shade." I motioned to my brother on my shoulder._

 _A photo and some work later._

" _And we're done. Here's your Trainer ID, as well as five pokeballs."_

" _That's... very generous of you..."_

" _Please, think nothing of it. It's common to give five spare balls for new trainers. The League pays for them."_

 _With that, I captured Shade, thanked Sycamore, and left. The second Armored Transport was about to leave, and I had to catch it as the third and last one wouldn't leave until evening, and I didn't enjoy the thought of staying here for six hours..._

* * *

End of flashback

* * *

I had also captured myself (Shade released me afterwards) to prevent any... accidents, regarding pokeballs. I couldn't help but wonder, why is it that pokeballs work on us, but not humans?

" **Brother, we're here!"**

As I jumped off, Shade poked my ear.

" **So, how are we going to fight the Gym Leader?"** I glare at him.

"Mom will rip off my fur and skin me alive if I let you fight, -especially- against a seasoned fighter like a Gym Leader! No, you won't be fighting, I will."

Shade gave me a confused look. **"How will you do that?"**

"Simple. You will pretend to be "me" and I will be your pokemon."

" **Nuh-uh, I want to fight!"**

"I see, that's a shame then..."

" **Hmm?"**

"If you refuse, then we won't be able to continue our journey. That means we'll have to return home. Mom and dad will be happy to see us back so soon I guess..."

" **Waitwaitwait, I'll do it! There's no way we're going home already!"**

With that, we went behind a building, Shade transformed into "me" while I returned to my true form, and he recalled me. Next stop: Santalune City Gym.

* * *

 **Fact about Chrom'es Journey: at first, I had intended to use the system that Kane has in Flame of Life: that pokeballs register users with blood and whatnot, but in the end I decided against it. I don't want to steal other's ideas unless absolutely necessary (or funny)**


	3. Chapter 2: Enter, Serena!

"Human speech"

" _Telepathy/aura"_

 _Thinking_

" **Pokemon speech"**

 **Pokemon move**

* * *

 **Chapter 2: Enter, Serena!**

(Third person POV)

Shade (in Chrome's human disguise) entered the Santalune City gym. The many Canvases hanging on the walls would give anyone the idea that it was a art museum, not a gym. As he strode through the building, he opened a pair of double doors, and found what he was looking for: one of them he supposed was the Gym Leader, as well as a challenger.

" _Hey brother, who do you think will win?"_

Quietly being released by Shade, Chrome looked upon the battle between the two pokemon.

" **By the look of things, the one with the Surskit will win. And I presume that's the Gym Leader, as well."**

"What makes you say that?" Shade asked with a confused look.

" **This is supposed to be a bug type gym, and surskit is a water/bug type pokemon. Her opponent's pokemon is chespin, a grass type. Unless the challenger has another pokemon ready, she will lose."**

"But brother, with that logic, won't you lose since you're a dark type? Aren't dark types weak to bugs?"

" **Indeed. But you forget, I've trained every day for years. That chespin has not. Training and combat experience can easily make type advantages useless."**

Meanwhile, as Chrome predicted, the chespin was defeated. The surskit was injured, but still standing.

"Chespin, no!" the blonde challenger exlaimed as her starter fainted.

" **It was pretty foolish to challenge a bug type gym with an unevolved grass type."** Chrome stated before recalling himself.

"Don't look so down Serena!" the Gym Leader exclaimed, "to lose is to learn a lesson. Right now, you've learnt that you should train harder, or try to catch pokemon with a type advantage."

To the Gym Leader's and Shade's combined surprise, the blonde, Serena, was smiling. "I know. I will return later once I've done either of those. So, you better get ready to lose a badge!"

" _She didn't seem to take losing badly."_ Shade told his brother.

" _A sign of someone who will go far,"_ Chrome answered, _"now, ask the Gym Leader if she's up for another battle."_

Shade nodded in his mind, and walked down the stairs towards the battlefield, passing by Serena on the way. He gave a grin and whispered. "If you want to see something cool, stay and watch my battle."

Serena turned and looked at him as he walked down and challenged the Gym Leader.

"I am Viola, the Gym Leader of Santalune City. What's your name, young challenger?"

"Sh- Chrome." Shade 'corrected' quickly. _"Close one, Shade..." "I know! I'm still getting used to this!"_

"Chrome, is it? How many badges do you have?"

"None, but after this, I will have one!" he grinned as he said it, as if it was a fact.

"Confident are you? We'll see if you can back it up or if it's groundless arrogance after this. Go, Surskit!" she yelled at the end, summoning her first pokemon.

"Come forth, Shade!" Shade said as he released his brother. Chrome just gave him a glare.

" _Couldn't you just have said 'zoroark' instead? Or have we swapped names or something?"_

" _Well, I'm posing as 'you' and you have a zorua registered as 'Shade'. I'm making sure not to cause any confusion."_

 _The reader will get confused like this..._ Chrome thought before clearing his mind. He was about to battle, after all.

"A zoroark? Normally I'd say it'd be folly to come with a dark type, but seeing as it's evolved... well, let's see how this turns out. Surskit, **Infestation**!"

 _Oh no you don't! **Sucker Punch**! _

Chrome's quick reaction stunned both Viola and Shade, as he moved without orders and fainted Surskit with that one attack.

"Wow..." escaped Serena's lips from the stands.

"So strong..." Viola and Shade said in unison.

"Alright then. Vivillon, go!" Viola said as she released her second and final pokemon.

"Shade, Night Daze!" 'Chome' said, at least wanting to act like a trainer.

'Shade' accepted and gathered energy in his forearms, before slamming them both down on the ground, creating an explosion that firmly knocked vivillon out, before it even got a chance to fight back.

Everyone in the gym simply stared at 'Shade', and wondered just how he could be so strong, when his trainer had seemingly just started his journey.

Finally accepting the course of events, Viola walked over to 'Chrome' and showed him the bug badge. "Utter annihilation, it seems. I'd almost question if you really have no other badges, but I don't think it would make a difference even if you did."

" _Maybe at three or four badges, it would actually matter, I believe."_ Chrome told Shade as he accepted the badge.

" _Overconfident, are you?"_ Shade asked his brother.

" _Since I don't know how strong her team would've been at four badges, I'm just making an estimate depending on her current team and the fact that we had zero badges,"_ he began, _"I could be totally wrong, and that even one or two badges would have made a radical difference, or that even 7 badges would make no difference. We'll see in the next gyms."_

After that, Shade walked up the stairs and met Serena halfway. "What'd you think? Shade's awesome, right?" he asked her while grinning again.

Serena, meanwhile, was at a loss for words. Someone who was seemingly as young as her had a pokemon who absolutely decimated the same Gym Leader that defeated her, which also had a type disadvantage like her own.

"You know... I could help you train, if you want..." Shade began.

" _Shade, what are you doing?! If she's around us too much she might find out!"_

 _Whoops..._ Shade didn't think of that.

'Better late than never' goes the saying, but that isn't always applicable. "You could do that?!" Serena asked with big round eyes. Eyes you simply couldn't say no to.

" _I'm sorry brother..."_

Chrome mentally sighed from within the pokeball. _"Nothing to do about it now. Just agree, we help her a bit, then we'll go separate ways. Simple."_

But alas, life isn't always that simple...

* * *

 **Fact about Chrome's Journey: at first, Chrome and Shade were supposed to travel together, no one else, but what's life without a little bit of trouble?**


	4. Chapter 3: Returning to the Capital!

"Human speech"

" _Telepathy/aura"_

 _Thinking_

" **Pokemon speech"**

 **Pokemon move**

* * *

 **Chapter 3: Returning to the Capital!**

 **And Serena is travelling with us?! Oh, come on...**

(Third person POV)

'Just agree, we help her a bit, then we'll go separate ways. Simple.'

 _If anything in life was ever that simple..._ Chrome grumbled inside his pokeball. As Shade had promised, they had helped chespin evolve into a quilladin, trained him abit, he defeated Viola, and Serena got the bug badge. But...

"Could I travel with you?" she had asked with the same big sparkling eyes as before. Shade mentally apologized to Chrome for being unable to reject her, once again. "Sure..."

" _As long as she doesn't discover the truth about us, I guess it's fine... but we really have to find an excuse to go separate ways. The longer she remains, the more we risk of being found out!"_

* * *

Later

* * *

The officer standing at the gates of Santalune had no qualms of letting the duo of trainers pass, seeing as both of them had a badge. It was most likely an unappreciated job, to bar the way for travelers, but in the end, it was for their safety.

"What kind of pokemon do you intend to catch?" Serena asked 'Chrome'.

"None," he answered, "I'm not a trainer, I just beat gyms for the sake of badges. They will allow me more freedom when travelling."

"But won't it be difficult to beat the strongest gyms with only Shade?" Serena asked, "Each badge you have will make the next one harder, no one has ever sweeped the later gyms before!"

'Chrome' grinned at her words. "Then I'll just have to be the first."

" _And you call ME overconfident... especially since you aren't doing jack..."_

" _Because you won't give me the chance!"_ Shade retorted, before thinking about what Chrome said. _"...Who's Jack?"_

" _Nevermind..."_

"I challenge you to a battle!"

Shade was abruptly brought out of his argument with Chrome as a kid pointed at him. Shade merely looked at him.

" _Tell Serena to take care of this. Her quilladin could make do with the training."_ Chrome said.

" _Won't that make me look bad? To tell a girl to fight in my place?"_ Shade wondered.

" _It'd be a waste of time and effort on our part to fight him, as it's highly unlikely that his pokemon is any stronger than the gym leader's, because if they were, he wouldn't be here."_

" _Beating up rookies for the sake of his self-esteem by any chance?"_

"Hey, you bringing out your pokemon today?!" The kid was obviously not patient.

"Serena, could you... you know..."

"Sure." She said with a smile as she brought out quilladin's pokeball.

Shade didn't expect her to agree so readily, but Chrome, on the other hand, mentally nodded. _"She's aware that every trainer she battles is a chance to grow stronger, unlike me, who would need a far greater opponent."_

" _That sounded wise until the second part, then it turned outright arrogant."_

" _I am merely stating facts."_

"Catch it with Vine Whip and slam it into the ground to finish this!"

Despite being at a type disadvantage, Serena's quilladin was stronger, thanks to both it's evolution and training, and thus easily defeated the kid's pidgey. As it seemed, quilladin had no issues with his new body, despite evolving recently. And so, this continued the whole way to Lumiose, with Serena fighting any trainer on the way. 'Chrome' did get an occasional look, as if they were disappointed in him for having Serena fight in his place.

" _Maybe I should've battled some of them..."_ Shade said to his brother, somewhat dejected at the glares he was given.

" _Just think that you let her battle for her sake: so that she could become a better trainer, and her pokemon could get stronger. You did the right thing."_

" _Say that to the trainers we refused..."_

"Here we are! Lumiose City!" Serena exclaimed happily.

The duo's first stop was the pokemon center, before they headed to Sycamore's lab. Said professor greeted them with a joyful expression.

"Ah, Serena, good to see you're finally- Oh? Chrome, you're back already?"

"You've met Chrome before, professor?" Serena asked.

"Indeed I have! Why, he registered here as a pokemon trainer earlier today."

Serena looked at 'Chrome'. "I thought you said you weren't a trainer."

'Chrome' chuckled. "Well... officially, I am a trainer, but I have no intention of catching pokemon or challenging the League. As I said, I only beat gyms as badges give me the freedom to travel. Without them, I'd be limited to Armored Transports, and they only ever stops at cities, and 'exploring' cities aren't the same as forests and caves."

"I see... that's a shame, don't you think?" Serena said.

"Why is that?"

"Someone with your ability could easily give the champion a run for his money. Wouldn't it be a great feeling? To know you're the strongest trainer in the region?"

" _Wishful thinking."_ Chrome thought to Shade, who voiced it to Serena. _"The champion isn't like the gym leader who had a weak team due to us having no badges, the champion will bring his a-game, whom he's trained for years before he became champion, and likely continued to train since. As much as I'd like to see how well 'Shade' can perform against him, it would most likely be a one-sided beating."_

"I... I see..." Serena said weakly.

Sycamore clapped his hands to grab the duo's attention. "Now now, that's enough of that." He then brought out a container which held three pokeballs. "Serena, I'd like you to have one of the three pokemon here. As you know, my research is about mega evolution, and these three- charmander, bulbasaur and squirtle- can do just that, once they reach their 'final' stage."

"Mega evolution?" 'Chrome' asked.

"Hmm? Ah, I never told you about it when you were here last time, did I?" 'Chrome' shook his head. "Mega evolution is when a pokemon evolves further than was originally believed to be possible. Some pokemon, for instance, never evolve, while other evolve once or twice. Mega evolution, however, is a temporary transformation rather than an evolution, granting said pokemon a power boost. My research is about finding out the secrets of mega evolution. Why the stones are needed, how pokemon react to it, and how different trainers have different effects on the evolution."

"Can zoroark mega evolve?" 'Chrome' asked, nearly jumping in excitement.

"To my knowledge, no. But it's fully possible that it can, just that the necessary mega stone hasn't been discovered yet. After all, I have plenty of potential mega stones, which are still undetermined what pokemon they work with. Some time ago, for example, a few stones were discovered in Hoenn, which, thanks to my help, turned out to be Pidgeotite, Galadite and Metagrossite, among others. But enough of that." Sycamore said as he turned to Serena. "Have you decided which one you want?"

"I choose..."

* * *

 **Fact about Chrome's Journey: I considered having Sycamore speak french occasionally, like he does in the game, but... I have only the utmost basic knowledge of simple words and numbers when it comes to french, and I don't trust online translators... Didn't want to butcher the language.**


	5. Chapter 4: Serena's choice!

"Human speech"

" _Telepathy/aura"_

 _Thinking_

" **Pokemon speech"**

 **Pokemon move**

* * *

 **Chapter 4: A chapter shorter than normal?!**

 **Serena's choice!**

The Tiny Turle pokemon seemed excited at having been chosen, with how it jumped on it's short legs.

"Squirtle, huh?" Sycamore said, "A good choice, as it will cover your chespin's weakness against fire, and it can learn ice attacks aswell, against flying types."

"What about Chrome?" Serena asked the professor.

"Hmm?"

"Doesn't he get to choose one?"

"Ah. Well, about that..."

'Chrome' intervened for the professor's sake. "That's because I'm only a... what would you call it? Freemium Trainer? Let's go with that. Due to that, the professor isn't allowed to grant me a starter pokemon from any of the regions, unless he deems that I deserve it as a reward somehow."

"'Freemium'?

"Basically," the professor chimed in, "he's a registered trainer that haven't paid for a pokedex and regional starter."

"Oh." was all Serena could answer.

"But as I've said before," 'Chrome' reminded her, "I have no intentions of gathering a team of pokemon."

"And as I said before, I think it's a shame." Serena replied.

"Eh, we'll see if Shade changes his mind. The only reason I won't apply to the League Tournament is because he refuse to battle in it."

"Why doesn't he want to battle in the tournament?"

"He thinks it's a waste of time."

"Isn't that a coward's excuse?" Serena asked with a glint in her eyes. It was a low blow, sure, but she wanted to see what they were capable of.

Shade heard Chrome laughing in his mind. _"A childish taunt. I'm not so simple minded as to get provoked by that."_

" _...Can't we do it, anyway?"_

" _Why are you and her so stubborn about this?"_

" _Why are YOU so stubborn about this? Is it really so bad to try it out? What's the worst that can happen? We lose? Then you get to know your limits. It's not like it's the end of the world if you lose a battle, you know."_

Chrome mentally sighed. _"You have no intention of dropping the subject, am I right?"_ The mental nod was enough to confirm his suspicion. _"Fine..."_

" _You mean...?"_

" _Yeah."_

" _Really?"_

 _"Ask one more time, I dare you!"_

'Chrome' jumped while cheering loudly, much to the surprise of both Sycamore and Serena. "He agreed!"

"Huh?" the two humans asked in unison.

"Oh..." 'Chrome' remembered that the two weren't a part of his and his brother's mental discussion. "I was talking to Shade mentally, and I managed to convince him!"

"Telepathy?"

'Chrome' nodded. "Yeah, the zoroark line are capable of telepathy. While not comparable to a psychic type, it's still enough for a small group."

"I see..." Serena began, "anyway, you're going to enter the tournament then?"

'Chrome' grinned. "Yup!"

"How far do you think you'll go?"

"I could win it all, I could get beaten in the first round, but that doesn't matter. I just want to see how far Shade will get... by himself."

"WHAT?!"

"Just because I convinced Shade to fight in the tournament hasn't changed my earlier mindset: I still won't capture any pokemon."

Serena was obviously disappointed. They entered, yes, but with only a single pokemon? Shade was strong, she agreed, but they couldn't possibly get far with such bad odds... right?

Sycamore faked a cough to get their attention, as the duo had seemingly forgotten he was even there. "Now then, before I forget," he said as he handed Serena a Blastiosinite, "once squirtle has evolved to a blastoise, and you have both a strong bond with him as well as a Key Stone, this will allow him to mega evolve. All that's left is for you two to continue your journey. I wish you the best of luck."

With that, the two left the lab and headed out to get the remaining badges.

* * *

 **Fact about Chrome's Journey: Originally I intended to have Team Plasma appear as antagonists in the story, but then I just thought "eh, why must every story contain a team that causes problems? Sure, there's a team causing problems somewhere, but it isn't guaranteed my character gets into trouble, right?"**


	6. Chapter 5: The tournament begins!

"Human speech"

" _Telepathy/aura"_

 _Thinking_

" **Pokemon speech"**

 **Pokemon move**

* * *

 **First, I'd like to apologize if this seems rushed... oh, who am I kidding, it can't be anything but rushed, I blame my declining interest in the story. I thought that if I didn't wrap it up, and soon, it would never see the light of day (like so many others).**

 **Chapter 5: The Tournament begins!**

 **And the author is lazy af!**

Third POV

Chrome and Shade looked upon the spectacle that was the Tournament stadium. It was enormous, truly befitting the final destination for any aspiring training. Well, technically, it was the second-last destination, as the Elite Four and Champion came after this, but you'd need to place high in the Tournament to even get to challenge them.

Shade had been true to his word, and not captured a single pokemon during his and Serena's journey, which worried her greatly: Chrome had defeated all the gym leaders, some easier than others, but now they were up against some of the strongest trainers in the region. It was almost unheard of to sweep entire teams with a single pokemon. If you had a legendary maybe, but otherwise...

" _It will be fine,"_ 'Shade' told Serena, _"Chrome and I are here to test our ability, not to win outright. Of course, just because we're indifferent about winning, doesn't mean we'll pull any punches against our opponents... including you, should we face off."_

"Shade, you're scaring her, you know..." 'Chrome' told his brother.

'Shade' snorted. _"I am merely giving her a heads-up that just because I helped train her team doesn't mean I intend to lose. The only way she's winning this is if she's put enough effort into training."_

"May I have your attention please!" a voice reverberated from the speakers. "The Kalos Tournament will soon start, so it is recommended not to start any battles or training that may tire out your pokemon, since you may be called to battle at any moment. First up: Serena Yvonne and Ben Remlin!"

"Well..." 'Chrome' said, "good luck I guess?"

" _Luck's got nothing to do with this."_ 'Shade' snorted.

"Thanks, both of you." Serena said with a smile, before dashing towards the battleground.

"Should we watch her?"

" _Unnecessary, I can guarantee she will win."_

"How can you say that when you haven't seen her opponent?"

" _Simple. Because -I- trained her team."_

"Your arrogance is off the scales... let's just go watch, alright?"

Yet again, Chrome's prediction held true: Serena's blastoise took down a dragonite thanks to clever use of **ice beam** and **hydropump** (she had planned in advance for moments like this, that every third **ice beam/hydropump** command were to be swapped, so when she said **ice beam** blastoise did **hydropump** ) and then pulled a draw with a greninja. After that, her meowstic took down an aegislash with well timed **shadowballs** whenever aegislash switched to attack mode. Her opponent gave up after that, since he was down to three while she still had only lost one and her meowstic still held strong.

Two battles later, it was Chrome's turn to show off, and the crowd was stunned by the display.

First he was up against an alakazam. Despite knowing **dazzling gleam** , the psi pokemon didn't stand a chance, being felled by a **dark pulse**. Things only went downhill for his opponent after that. His conkeldurr kept wasting power on illusions, and finally succumbed to the poison from **toxic**. Talonflame, haxorus, malamar and barbacle was felled just as easily as alakazam, and the boy was rendered speechless, while the crowd erupted in cheers. There were even those who recognized Chrome and Shade from gym battles they had seen or heard about.

And then, a few battles later, it happened. Serena and Chrome were to battle eachother in the semi-finals. Serena was obviously worried, having to battle her mentor like this. Part of her had hoped he would be knocked out during the earlier rounds, but... another part of her was excited, to show Chrome and Shade that she had gotten stronger since the time they first met. Even if she lost, she were going to make them proud!

"Let's do this Shade!" 'Chrome' said as he called out his brother.

"You're up, blastoise!" Serena yelled as the shellfish pokemon appeared.

"Begin!" The announcer declared.

" **Ice beam** , try to slow him down!"

" **Sucker punch**!"

Much to Shade's surprise, blastoise didn't fall from the attack, but Chrome expected this. _I trained him, after all._ As such, he dodged the oncomming **ice beam** , before retaliating with a **dark pulse**. Blastoise was on his last legs after that.

"Finish him! **Night daze**!"

" **Focus blast**!"

Neither Chrome nor Shade had expected blastoise to have energy left to attack, and was caught off guard. Chrome took the attack head-on as he finished **night daze** , which knocked blastoise out.

 _That's one. Five more to go, and three of them will be annoying. But damn did that last attack hurt..._

"Absol, your turn!"

 _Clever, she intends to soften me up as much as possible before bringing out the ones with an advantage against me. I've taught her well~_

" **Perish song**!"

 _Oh? Trying a cheapshot? Well then... **low sweep**!_

The **low sweep** was not something Serena had seen 'Shade' use before, and he quickly followed up with a **u-turn** , knocking absol out before it got a chance to sing.

 _Two down, four to go._

"Meowstic, let's do this! **Signal beam**!

"Shade, **sucker punch**!"

Meowstic knew it wouldn't manage to do much, so it fired the **signal beam** even in the face of imminent defeat, and managed to injure 'Shade' further.

 _Damnit, if this continues... at least I'm halfway there._

* * *

 **Nothing to see here, move on!**


	7. Chapter 6: The conclusion!

"Human speech"

" _Telepathy/aura"_

 _Thinking_

" **Pokemon speech"**

 **Pokemon move**

* * *

 **Chapter 6: The battle is brought to it's conclusion!**

Third POV

"Clefable, time to turn the tables! **Moon blast**!"

"Counter with **flamethrower**!"

As the two attacks met midway, the flamethrower won out, since fairy types, while not weak to fire, are less effective on them.

Serena 'tched', she had hoped that would've dealt some damage. But something was wrong.

"...Where'd Shade go?"

He was nowhere to be seen!

'Chrome' grinned, as only he knew what was happening.

"An illusion?" Serena asked, but doubted it.

"Now! **Dig**!"

'Shade' burst out from the ground at the command, tackling clefable before bounching off it.

"Let's show them our latest trick, Shade! **Shadowball**!"

The blob of ghost energy was flung towards clefable, who was still recovering from the dig surprise-attack, and almost faltered at the impact.

" **Dazzling gleam**!"

Clefable obeyed and released the fairy energy in a bright light. As much as Chrome wanted to, he couldn't dodge it, and using flamethrower as cover didn't negate it completely.

" **Shadow ball** , again!"

Finally, the fairy pokemon was downed, which was the first of three annoying opponents.

'Shade' grinned at the sight. _Only two left!_

"Altaria, let's show the world your strength! Mega evolve!"

Under cover of a bright light, altaria's shape changed and it's power increased. Meanwhile, Chrome looked at altaria with a somewhat troubled expression for once.

 _A dragon/fairy type, meaning my dark attacks are less effective, as is **flamethrower** and **low sleep**. Annoying._

"Altaria, **hyper voice**!"

Chrome got more than twice as hurt by the attack than he was supposed to, and came to a realization. _Pixilate! Damn her, this just got a whole lot worse. I Can't afford to take much more damage since I have another battle after this._ At that thought, his eyes glowed briefly.

Suddenly, altaria was surrounded by multiple Shade's, and all of them prepared a different attack. **Flash cannon** , **sludge bomb** , **ice beam** and **moon blast**. All are moves a zoroark could never learn. Even so, altaria panicked, as it's weak to all of them, but as it tried to flee, it was restrained by two other Shade's that had somehow jumped it, and the attack strucks, fainting altaria.

Meanwhile...

"Altaria! Altaria, what's wrong!?" Serena frantically shouted. Why did it faint all of a sudden?

"Did you know?" 'Chrome' asked on the other side. "If the mind is under an illusion that's powerful enough, albeit the body isn't injured, the brain still believes there to be pain. Shade used his strongest illusion to make altaria believe it was hit by multiple attacks it's weak against. It was so realistic, it even 'felt' the attacks, despite them not being real, and fainted as a result."

"No way... how come he hasn't used it before?"

'Chrome' shrugged. "Because it's taxing on his own mind. His trumph card if you will. Now, he's both physically AND mentally exhausted, but he had hoped he wouldn't have to use it, and if he had, it would be against his final opponent. But you still have your starter, so at this point, the battle is anything but certain."

Serena was hesitating to call out chesnaught. She's almost been sweeped by Shade, so in the off-case that she did win this battle, could truly say she had earned it? If Chrome had had one or two more pokemon, this battle would've undoubtly been his...

" _Don't you dare hold back on me now!"_ 'Shade''s telepathic voice resounded in her mind. _"I haven't come this far, I haven't worked this hard just to win by forfeit! This is the best battle I've ever had, and you will not deny me now! Besides, isn't this a great opportunity? Didn't you want to win the tournament? Well, here's your chance! I might return next year, and by then I would've gotten stronger."_

Serena looked at 'Shade', she gripped chesnaught's pokeball harder, before she threw it so he came out. Chesnaught swallowed something before he bowed to 'Shade'. **"To think it would come to this, teacher. I had hoped altaria would defeat you..."**

" **Heh, I even had to pull my trumph card to come this far. Your team has gotten strong."**

" **Aye, all for Lady Serena's wish of winning this tournament. And because of that very same wish, I will fight you will all I have, despite your weakened state. Please don't hold it against me..."**

" **Don't worry, I will only hold it against you if you go easy on me, after all I've been through."** Despite saying that, Chrome was worried. What did chesnaught swallow before he began to talk? _It doesn't matter. Win or lose, I will not go down without a fight!_

"Chesnaught, **seed bomb**!"

"Counter with **dark pulse** and then follow up with **flamethrower**!"

Chrome shot down all the attacks mid-air, and then he ran closer before spewing fire at his opponent.

" **Spiky shield**!"

The fire, amusingly enough, didn't damage chesnaught's shield, despite looking like it was made out of grass energy.

"Strengthen yourself with **bulk up**!"

 _Oh~?_

"Again!" Serena was getting worried. 'Shade' didn't try to stop chesnaught from using **bulk up**. _Why?_

"One last time, and then, **hammer arm**!"

" **Foul play**!"

Realizing her mistake too late, 'Shade' struck with great strength thanks to **foul play** becoming stronger the stronger the opponent is. Using your opponents power against him, literally.

"Chesnaught!" Serena screamed in fear. But it was pointless worry. Albeit empowered, it was still a dark type attack, and chesnaught had used **hammer arm** to block some of the damage.

"Time to finish this Shade! **Aerial ace**!"

'Shade' ran up to chesnaught and struck him twice, and with that, the battle was over. He had w-

"NOW!" Serena yelled, surprising 'Shade', as he felt a really powerful blow strike him. The impact caused him to fly across the stadium straight into the wall, causing a small crater to form. 'Shade' and 'Chrome' was equally surprised. _Chesnaught didn't go down from that? How?!_

Albeit he didn't go down, he was on shaky legs, as was 'Shade' on the other side, and they stared at each other. **"How didn't you go down from that? You're doubly we- wait... it was a coba berry?!"**

Chesnaught nodded weakly. **"Aye, I ate it as soon as I was called out. It was a gamble on Lady Serena's side, really, as she knew you could learn aerial ace, but not if you actually had. Seems it paid off."**

" **Heh... but you do know that this would've ended differently if it wasn't for that, right?"**

" **Aye, my- no, our complete defeat."**

" **Good. As long... as you... under... stand..."** Chrome said as he first fell to his knees, before falling down on the ground, unconscious.

The announcer was dumbstruck at first, before finally realizing he had a job to do. "He's down! Shade the zoroark is down! The until now undefeated monster, that has sweeped all competition, has finally met his match! AND THE WINNER IIIS! SEEEREEENAAA YYYVOOONEEE!"

The crowd went wild, as many believed 'Shade' would win the tournament by himself. Meanwhile, 'Chrome' recalled his brother, nodded at Serena with a smile, and left. The tournament wasn't over for her yet, as this was only the semifinals. But 'Chrome' was certain she would win, as there aren't many who can force his brother to use his trumph card.

* * *

During the finals...

* * *

"Are you alright with this, Chrome?"

" _What do you mean?"_

"Throwing in the towel like that."

" _..."_

"Come on now, I'm your brother, I know when you fake it."

" _...it just wouldn't feel right to rob her of her dream for the sake of testing my limits. Can you really say you wouldn't feel like the ultimate douchebag if you had defeated her?"_

"I guess not. Oh, it looks like she won!"

" _Of course. She -almost- defeated me, so there's no way a no-name trainer could win against her."_

Shade sighed. "Nothing will ever make you humble, huh?"

* * *

 **Nope, no fact about Chrome's Journey here either. Disappointed?**


	8. Chapter 7: The ultimate prank!

"Human speech"

" _Telepathy/aura"_

 _Thinking_

" **Pokemon speech"**

 **Pokemon move**

* * *

 **Chapter 7: The Ultimate Prank**

Third POV

Serena, 'Chrome', a boy named Kevin and a girl named Jessica stood on the podiums, signifying their ranks in the tournament.

Serena was at the top, since she had won, with Kevin on second place, while 'Chrome' and Jessica shared a third place, since the two of them were defeated at the semi-finals, and thus scored as top four.

" _So..."_ Shade began, _"what happens now? We're going home?"_

" _I guess... I've already seen all of Kalos, and participated in the tournament. I don't see what else to do."_

" _Travel the other regions?"_

" _Out of the question! Mom and dad would faint at the mere thought of us leaving the region."_

"And at her side, the second, or perhaps first, of the two who scored the top four, CHROOOMEEE!"

At the mention of his (brother's) name, 'Chrome' perked up, especially as the crowd went ballistic (figuratively speaking, of course). If anyone would say that 'Chrome' had won the tournament, no one would've been against it. The battle between 'Chrome' and Serena had been far more intense than the one between Serena and Kevin. It was like comparing a battle between champions and a battle between a rookie that's challenging a gym leader. It was well known that had 'Chrome' had just one more pokemon, the battle would've been his victory.

"Do tell us, young man," the announcer said giving the mic to 'Chrome', "how did Shade get so strong? Didn't you begin your journey this very year?"

Shade grinned, and thought it was time. "Well, I could tell you, but before that, I have a few... confessions."

" _Shade?"_ Chrome asked, without getting a response.

"Oh? Do tell us, what would that be? Did you cheat or something?" the announcer asked with a joking expression.

"Nope, but I did lie!" this got everyone's attention. "First, I didn't train Shade. He trained for years before I was even born. Second, -I- am Shade, while 'my' zoroark's name is Chrome, and he's my brother, not my pokemon.." he said before taking out Chrome's pokeball. "And third. I'm not a human, but..." he said as he threw the pokeball into the air, before jumping up himself, and ending the illusion, revealing his true form, a zorua, and dropped towards Serena, who caught him in her arms in surprise.

Once Chrome appeared, he was anything but happy, having his cover blown. **"Was that really necessary?!"** he said as he grabbed Shade and activated his illusion to make himself and Shade vanish. Meanwhile, everyone was in a state of shock, and for obvious reasons. If Chr- no, Shade, were to be believed, then a wild pokemon duo had faked a trainer ID, entered the gym circuit, and nearly sweeped the tournament.

* * *

In the changing rooms...

* * *

Chrome ended the illusion, and stared angrily at Shade, who had his trademark grin plastered on his face. Then, all of a sudden, Chrome burst into laughter, and Shade immediately followed.

" **You have to admit that it was funny to see their faces!"** Shade said between laughing fits.

" **Haha, yeah, I guess it was."**

"Chrome, Shade!" they heard someone yell as the door opened, and out came... Serena. Alone.

The duo of pokemon looked at her, who stared back at them. She had guessed what they were going to do now (they had travelled together for weeks, after all), and that worried her. They were her first friends (baring chesnaught) and she didn't want them to leave like this. But she wasn't sure what she could do.

"You..." she said weakly, "We'll meet again sometime, right?"

Chrome and Shade looked at each other for a moment. _"We will, I promise."_ Chrome told her. _"Perhaps during the tournament next year. Perhaps earlier. But we will."_

Serena nodded, happy at the comfirmation. With that, Chrome used his illusion again, and the duo of pokemon vanished from her sight.

* * *

Outside the League... Chrome's POV

* * *

Shade and I looked back at the League building, and we thought back at all that had happened before we ended up here. **"Quite the adventure, eh, brother?"** Shade asked me.

" **Totally"** I answer with a smile.

I am Chrome, the strongest zoroark in the Kalos region, and this, this was my story, of how I (almost) conquered the league on a whim.

* * *

 **Fact about Chrome's journey: this chapter was a homeage to a story I've never released "The Ultimate Prank", featuring a zorua named Shade that intended to challenge, and subsequently defeat, the Elite Four and Champion, and then reveal his true form to the world, just like Shade did now. I also noticed that despite Chrome being the main character, Shade held greater importance... I guess it's like Fire Emblem Awakening, the Avatar being the main character yet he's a deuteragonist (secondmost important character).**


End file.
